Dream (Happy Lantern Festival)

Su Yu had not found a suitable way to speed things up in the library, but he was not too disappointed.

If such methods were truly that widespread, the academy would not have failed to mention them.

He had merely held onto a sliver of hope. Reality proved that he had been overthinking it. Since that was the case, he could only continue diligently cultivating the "Kaiyuan Jue."

He ate lunch at the academy. When he returned home that evening and saw the quiet, empty house, Su Yu fell silent.

With his father gone, the house had instantly become desolate.

In the past, whenever he returned from the academy, his father would have already prepared dinner and waited for him. Now the place was cold and empty, and Su Yu still was not used to it.

In no mood to cook, Su Yu leaned against the sofa and turned on the television. His mind wandered as the sound of the TV became background music.

There were not many channels available on television nowadays.

In Great Xia Prefecture, they could at most receive Great Xia Television and a handful of local channels.

Because of the Battlefields of the Heavens and several other battlefields, signal coverage was limited and transmission was difficult. Thus, each prefecture could generally only receive its own channels.

"Recently, traces of the Ten Thousand Races Cult have been discovered in Great Xia Prefecture. If citizens of Great Xia Prefecture discover suspicious individuals, report them promptly to the local Jifeng Hall..."

"Bastards!"

Hearing the report on television, Su Yu could not help cursing under his breath.

A bunch of bastards!

The war of the heavens had erupted. Although humanity had held back the hostile races, humanity was not considered particularly strong among the myriad races. There would always be some scum who entertained other thoughts at such a time and chose to defect to other races.

The Ten Thousand Races Cult was not a single cult, but many—scum who had pledged themselves to different races.

These people had gathered together, jointly creating chaos within humanity.

Influenced by his father from childhood, Su Yu loathed these bastards to the extreme.

He lifted his head and glanced at the television. At that moment, a middle-aged man with a square face, an imposing presence even without anger, and crimson battle robes appeared on screen.

The man's expression was grim, his tone icy. He shouted, "Execute them!"

"Pfft!"

The next instant, over a hundred people were kneeling on the screen. Armored guards stood behind them, swinging their blades. In an instant, more than a hundred heads fell!

"Kill every Ten Thousand Races Cult member we catch!"

The middle-aged man was incomparably stern. His gaze fixed ahead, as though he were about to step out of the television screen. He said coldly, "Come to my Great Xia Prefecture, and there is only death! From today onward, the Dragon Martial Guard will patrol Great Xia Prefecture. You bastards of the Ten Thousand Races Cult, if you are not afraid of death, then do not leave Great Xia Prefecture. Let us see how many dog heads you bastards have to be chopped off!"

On the sofa, Su Yu suddenly felt a little excited.

Xia Longwu!

The Prefect of Great Xia Prefecture!

As for the beheadings, he did not care much about them. Everyone was used to it. This scene often appeared on television. Humanity had only one method for dealing with Ten Thousand Races Cult members: catch them and cut off their heads, until no one dared betray humanity again. The policy was iron-blooded to the extreme.

Public executions were meant to intimidate everyone and make some people abandon such thoughts.

Su Yu was not concerned about that. What he cared about more was Xia Longwu.

This Prefect of Great Xia was exceedingly forceful—and exceedingly powerful.

Twenty years ago, this prefect had commanded the Demon Suppression Army on the Battlefields of the Heavens, the very regiment where his father had served. He had been his father's direct superior.

Over the years, whenever Xia Longwu appeared, Su Long would become incredibly excited. He would pull Su Yu over, point at the television, and say, "That's your old man's former commander! Back then, he swept across all directions on the Battlefields of the Heavens, unstoppable and peerless, slaughtering the armies of the myriad races until they threw down their helmets and cast aside their armor..."

Over time, even Su Yu had been influenced somewhat. He had begun to admire this powerhouse who had carved out a bloody path on the Battlefields of the Heavens.

"When... will I be strong enough to reach Prefect Xia's level... That would be wonderful!"

Su Yu felt a small flicker of longing.

This was a true powerhouse. None of the current prefectural rulers were weak.

However, Xia Longwu was among the very best even among the prefectural rulers. That was not the key point. Su Yu did not know who was strongest among them; he only knew that Xia Longwu was not that old, merely in his sixties.

The powerful Zhou Potian of Great Zhou Prefecture, for example, was a figure from the early Anping Calendar. That meant he was already over three hundred years old.

Twenty years ago, Xia Longwu had only been in his forties, yet he had already commanded the Demon Suppression Army. That was what Su Yu envied.

Truly powerful!

He had only been in his forties. In this era, that was incredibly, incredibly young.

What level of strength was needed to command the Demon Suppression Army?

Su Yu did not know, but he knew it had to be formidable. This was not something one could accomplish merely because one's grandfather was King Daxia. Some prefectural rulers were even the biological sons of founding kings, yet they were not necessarily this impressive.

"Xia Longwu..."

"Dragon Martial War College!"

"Dragon Martial Guard!"

Su Yu licked his lips, his mouth slightly dry. After all, he was young. Who had never had hot blood coursing through their veins?

Had he never thought of applying to a War Academy?

Of course he had!

Great Xia Prefecture had several higher War Academies. Among them, Great Xia War College had a legacy of over three hundred years and was the oldest, as well as the strongest, War Academy in Great Xia Prefecture.

Yet Great Xia Prefecture now also had another top-tier War Academy.

Dragon Martial War College!

A War Academy named after Xia Longwu himself, founded fifteen years ago. In only fifteen short years, it had become one of Great Xia Prefecture's foremost academies.

More than half of its graduates joined Great Xia Prefecture's strongest regiment—the Dragon Martial Guard!

It was said that the lord of Nanyuan City had actually come from the Dragon Martial Guard. That alone spoke volumes.

Although his father, Su Long, came from the Demon Suppression Army, after retiring, he had also wanted to join the Dragon Martial Guard and continue following his former commander. Unfortunately... the Dragon Martial Guard would not take him.

He was a little too old and a little too weak. They would not accept Su Long.

It had angered Su Long enough that he had cursed people out more than once. Of course, he had not cursed Xia Longwu, but those fellows in charge of recruitment. Why would they not take him?

It was said that Nanyuan City now also had a small squad of Dragon Martial Guard troops stationed there. Whether that was true or not, Su Yu did not know. At least, he had never seen them.

"Great Xia War College, Dragon Martial War College... Great Xia War College mainly supplies soldiers for the front lines, and it is difficult to return afterward. But the Dragon Martial Guard..."

Su Yu's eyes flickered. Dragon Martial War College was different; it mainly served as the reserve force for the Dragon Martial Guard.

Students from Dragon Martial War College would also go to the front lines, and their treatment was similar to those of other War Academies. But the Dragon Martial Guard had one advantage: its main mission was guarding their homeland. In other words, they could remain in Great Xia Prefecture most of the time.

Of course, once a great war erupted, the Dragon Martial Guard, as an elite regiment, would be thrown into the Battlefields of the Heavens at the first opportunity.

If the Demon Suppression Army was the standing army of the Battlefields of the Heavens, then the Dragon Martial Guard was the field army.

"Fewer restrictions, greater freedom, but once war breaks out, it will be the most dangerous sieges and counteroffensives..."

"If I truly wanted to apply to a War Academy, I should actually go to Dragon Martial War College."

Su Yu muttered to himself. Unfortunately, Dragon Martial War College was actually even harder to enter.

Since it was the reserve force of the Dragon Martial Guard, its requirements for strength were even slightly higher than those of Great Xia War College.

Rubbing his cheeks, Su Yu gave a bitter smile. He was dreaming.

Ordinary War Academies were already difficult enough, much less Dragon Martial War College.

Why was he thinking so much?

"The Ten Thousand Races Cult actually dared come onto Great Xia Prefecture's turf. They are courting death! The Dragon Martial Guard has moved out. I wonder whether we will see anything here in Nanyuan..."

Su Yu was not overly worried. Those people from the Ten Thousand Races Cult could not show their faces and did not dare stick their heads out.

They only dared make minor moves in secret. Now that the Dragon Martial Guard was patrolling Great Xia Prefecture, those people were hiding deeper than rats. How would they dare show themselves?

Even if they did, Su Yu was not afraid.

Nowadays, almost everyone was a soldier. There might not be any Wanshi Realm powerhouses in the neighborhood, but there were quite a few Qianjun Realm cultivators.

Besides veterans like his father who had returned, there were several who had not returned, as well as some veterans who had passed the age limit.

If several Qianjun Realm followers of the Ten Thousand Races Cult came, they would simply be delivering themselves to death.

Those old men who had been able to retire from the battlefield—who among them was not a ruthless character with hands stained in blood? They killed without blinking.

With one shout, seven or eight Qianjun Realm cultivators could leap out at any moment.

After watching television, he casually cooked some noodles to muddle through dinner. After washing up and practicing the "Kaiyuan Jue" a few times, Su Yu went to bed early.

If he did not sleep early, he would wake early from his dreams, and his sleep would not be enough.

By now, Su Yu had grasped a pattern. He generally dreamed in the wee hours of the morning. Before then was the best part of his sleep, so he had to treasure that time.

Night.

Pitch-black darkness.

In the dream.

The scene that had repeated countless times appeared once more.

An enormous bird was hunting Su Yu.

"Fuck!"

Su Yu hated avian races the most. They flew too fast; he could not escape them even if he ran.

When he encountered land monsters in the past, it was not so bad. Sometimes, he actually had a chance to escape and avoid being caught and chewed up by the monster.

But whenever he encountered a flying monster, he had never escaped. Every time, he was chewed into pulp and awakened from the dream in pain.

He hated these flying bastards!

This time was no exception. The enormous bird was incredibly fast. The terrain obstacles in the dream had no effect on it whatsoever, and the distance between them grew shorter and shorter.

Su Yu sprinted at top speed while turning his head to look.

He wanted to identify whether he knew this bird.

"Hmm?"

He swept it with his gaze. There were many avian races, and Su Yu actually knew only a dozen or so. But this time... he found it very familiar!

Although it was extremely hazy, he could vaguely make out a fleshy tumor atop its enormous head.

"This is... the Iron Winged Bird Race!"

"Damn it, after all these years, I finally ran into one I recognize!"

Su Yu was somewhat excited at that moment. He knew eighteen Myriad Races Languages, but that did not mean he had encountered those races. Even in his dreams, he had never encountered them before. He had only vaguely felt they were familiar, and because people at Nanyuan Middle Academy knew those languages, he had gone to learn them.

But although he had never encountered the Iron Winged Bird Race before, he knew their language!

It was among the eighteen languages he had mastered. People at Nanyuan Academy also knew it, because on the Battlefields of the Heavens, this bird race was controlled by several powerful races of Gods and Devils and deployed as air forces.

Su Yu hurriedly turned around and shouted, "Wei yi xi jiu yun! Why are you chasing me?"

The enormous bird did not respond, as though it could not hear him at all, and continued swooping toward him.

"Lu yi ji you... We are friends!"

There was still no response.

Su Yu cursed inwardly. Seeing the enormous bird expose its claws and dive at him, he knew he was about to die again.

It was most likely an Iron Winged Bird, but apparently it had no intelligence whatsoever. After all, it was only a phantom in his dream.

"Crack!"

Sure enough, intense pain burst from his head. Su Yu's head was directly crushed by the claws, and the dream phantom gradually dispersed.

Su Yu knew he was about to wake up!

Awakened by pain!

Yet at that very moment, the enormous Iron Winged Bird suddenly let out a piercing cry just as it crushed Su Yu's head.

"Blood!"

Su Yu froze slightly. The next moment, he jolted awake, drenched in sweat.

"Blood... no, not blood moon—it was blood!"

Su Yu's eyes widened. He had heard it.

The Iron Winged Bird had killed him, yet it had been furious, because killing him had apparently failed to give it what it wanted.

"Blood!"

"It killed me for blood, for blood!"

It was the language of the Iron Winged Bird Race, so Su Yu understood it.

He had experienced such things before, but he had not understood then, because those monsters had not been among the races familiar to him.

This time, he understood!

"Blood!"

"It wants blood. What does that mean?"

"My blood? But sometimes I get injured and bleed, yet there was no reaction at all. What exactly does it mean?"

Su Yu had a headache. Ignoring the nightmare he had just had, his thoughts began spinning rapidly.

"It needs blood, but it cannot get it by killing me in the dream. My blood apparently will not do either. Could it be... that it needs the blood of its own race?"

"Iron Winged Bird blood?"

"If I had Iron Winged Bird blood, what would happen?"

"A dream is still a dream. Even if I had it, could I bring it into the dream?"

Su Yu rubbed his temples, his hands covered in sweat.

He could not concern himself with that now. This dream... seemed to have suddenly become clearer. After all these years, this was the first time he had felt that the dream could be solved.

Learning Myriad Races Languages had not been in vain. Even if he had heard only one sentence today, that was enough.

"No, I have to try. No matter what, I have to try. If I had Iron Winged Bird blood, what changes would it produce? Also, once this dream passes, tomorrow's creature might not be an Iron Winged Bird. Would Iron Winged Bird blood still be useful then?"

"Whatever!"

Su Yu abruptly sat up. He had made his decision. He had to try.

He had been hunted in his dreams for so many years. He was sick of it, tired of it. He had to resolve this dream as soon as possible. Otherwise, with this matter buried in his heart, no one would feel comfortable being killed every day.

"When dawn comes, I'll go take a look at the Xia Family Merchant Guild. They sell everything there. They might have Iron Winged Bird blood. Iron Winged Birds are quite common on the Battlefields of the Heavens, after all. Maybe I can buy some!"

Having made up his mind, Su Yu had no desire to sleep anymore. He eagerly awaited dawn so that he could buy Iron Winged Bird blood.

Even if there was only a thread of hope that he could solve the problem of his dreams, it was still worth it. He had truly had enough of these days. They were far too tormenting.

PS: The next update will be at six in the evening. During the new book period, there will be two updates every day: eleven in the morning and six in the evening. The time in between is for promptly adjusting chapter content. Simply put, I'll revise things according to readers' feedback. I hope everyone will speak up enthusiastically; I read it every day.